The modern communications era has brought about a tremendous expansion of wireline and wireless networks. Computer networks, television networks, and telephony networks are experiencing an unprecedented technological expansion, fueled by consumer demand. Wireless and mobile networking technologies have addressed related consumer demands, while providing more flexibility and immediacy of information transfer.
Current and future networking technologies continue to facilitate ease of information transfer and convenience to users by expanding the capabilities of mobile electronic devices. Meanwhile mobile terminals are becoming ubiquitous in the modern world. In this regard, mobile electronic devices of various types that are communicating with other mobile or fixed devices are becoming increasingly common. One area in which there is a demand to increase ease of information transfer relates to networks such as Local Area Networks in which electronic devices such as mobile terminals or stations (STAs) and access points (APs) operate to facilitate the transfer of various forms of traffic data between each other.
Currently, there are various outdated STAs and APs (also referred to herein as legacy devices) in these networks that have been deployed in the marketplace. These STAs and APs may operate with a specified channel bandwidth such as 20 MHz for example. Newer STAs and APs are being developed and deployed which may operate and switch channel bandwidths dynamically. For instance, if an access point has a certain capability, the Basic Service Set can be configured to operate with a channel bandwidth of 20 MHz or 40 MHz or both, that is dynamically switching between the channel bandwidths. However, networks in which devices may dynamically switch between different channel bandwidths may consume more power than is desirable at the devices. Also, devices that are not capable of operating at all the possible channel bandwidths that may be provided by the network may face quality of service (QoS) problems because of devices using dynamic channel bandwidth.
In this regard, the Task Group N (TGn) Draft 3.0 provides that devices that are configured to operate at 40 MHz are required to scan to help the AP in determining the environment and if it is safe to operate as a 40 MHz Basic Service Set. According to the TGn Draft 3.0 stations (STAs) may provide a 20/40 BSS Intolerant Channel Report element that contains a list of channels on which a STA has found conditions that disallow the use of a 20/40 MHz BSS. (As referred to herein a 20/40 MHz BSS is a BSS that has devices such as APs and STAs that may operate in a 20 MHz channel bandwidth or both a 20 MHz and 40 MHz channel bandwidth) According to the TGn Draft 3.0, STAs in the network are exempted from scanning if the STA meets a condition in which the total duration of transmitted Media Access Control (MAC) Service Data Units (MSDUs) and received unicast MSDUs during the previous transmissions does not exceed a threshold referred to as the “Activity Threshold.”
However, this exemption potentially creates a situation in which a respective AP does not have enough information about the adjacent channels. For instance, it is the STAs in the network that inform the AP about the status of the BSS on the same channel or an adjacent channel(s) (i.e., allowed channels in the regulatory domain) and if the STAs are exempt from scanning it might result in scenarios where 20/40 BSS operation is affecting STAs that operate in the 20 MHz channel bandwidth in the network because the AP does not have the required information that it needs relating to the status of the BSS. If all the 20/40 MHz STAs in the network are required to scan to help the AP determine the environment of the 20/40 MHz BSS, this scanning drains the battery power of the portable devices in the network such as the STAs and the APs.
Given the above described problems, it may be advantageous to provide a mechanism which does not excessively drain the power of the electronic devices in the Basic Service Set of a network such as a 20/40 MHz BSS while informing APs in the network about the status of the BSS. Additionally, it may be beneficial to provide a mechanism that serves to foster configuration of a BSS having multiple channel bandwidths based on new devices being deployed that may operate in each of the channel bandwidths without affecting existing devices operating on one channel bandwidth that are currently in the marketplace or were previously deployed.